The Gallery of Art in Legnica (Poland)
THE GALLERY OF ART IN LEGNICA
After 25 years of “silver” shows, presented mainly as part of Legnica SILVER Festival, the Gallery of Art in Legnica decided to organize its achievements in the field of promotion of contemporary, avant-garde jewellery and in 2004 started building a permanent collection. Most of the works were obtained in the years 2013-2016 thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Currently, the Collection consists of about half a thousand works, which makes it one of the largest international collections of contemporary artistic jewelry in Europe.
It consists of objects of the latest art, their vast majority of created in the 21st century. To a large extent, these are works that have been awarded in the Legnica International Jewellery Competition – the main event of Legnica SILVER Festival – as well as objects presented at accompanying exhibitions. The Collection includes works by artists from various parts of the world, showing a wide range of possibilities of using body decoration to create a work of art. The collection consists of examples of contemporary, unique jewellery as well as design objects and installations with the function of jewellery by the best Polish and foreign designers.
Legnica Collection bears witness to the wealth of contexts, techniques, materials and ways of thinking about jewellery – from speculation on the traditional understanding of ornamentation, through the medium of content, used to manifest the artist’s views, to the work of conceptual art, in which the physical object serves only the function of conveying an idea. The Collection shows therefore the evolution of the concept of jewellery: from pure ornamentation to the medium of specific content and value of social importance. It is organized according to two systems: chronological and problematic.
Legnica’s shows have been repeatedly devoted to current social or philosophical and aesthetic problems, generating surprisingly original, fresh, up-to-date and innovative works. In this respect, the Collection and the way it is organized may turn out to be an original and unique set of this kind.
EXHIBITING DESIGNERS
Karl Fritsch – Germany
ring, oxidized silver, 2012
Philip Sajet – The Netherlands
Big Black ring, niello on silver
Bastard Collection (Ingrid Römmich, Veronika Schmidt) – Germany
The ritual of love ring, silver, zircon, red flock, etui, 2011
Georg Dobler – Germany
Neo Classic brooch, oxidized silver, synthetic rubies, citrines, handmade stone settings, assembled, classical stone cut, 2012
Stephanie Hensle – Germany
Lifetime Classic object, silver 925, gold plated, fashion jewellery, zircon, false pearls, steel, 2014
Marion Delarue – France
Red agate bracelet, porcelain, glass, glaze, re-sand, 2012-2013
Sara Gackowska – Poland
The eternal conflict pendant, granite, silver, ribbon, 2013
Patricia Domingues – Portugal
Brooch necuron, steel, 20 g, 2016
Felieke van der Leest – The Netherlands
Anti-War Warrior brooch, textile, plastic animal, gold, silver, glass beads, onyx, topaz, crocheted, metalwork
Otto Künzli – Germany
Faceless ring, oxidized silver
Alexander Blank – Germany
Memento Juniori (Sylvester) pendant, rigid foam, silver, string, hand carved, 2011
Timothy Information Limited – Great Britain
Watch the birdie badge, brass, silver, acrylic, steel, powder coat, 2012
Christina Karababa – Greece
The unique handmade piece and it’s pre-Duchampian superiority
brooch, polyamide, 2015
Ted Noten – The Netherlands
Fashionista in pink necklace, polyamide
David Bielander – Switzerland
Koi bracelet, thumbtacks, leather, silver, 2012
Sungho Cho – South Korea/Germany
Samsara Tsunami brooch, silver, wood, plastic, acrylic paint, talisman of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, hand-carved, patinated, painted, 2011
Tabea Reulecke – Germany
LOVER necklace, silver, enamel, copper, 2012
Jan Suchodolski – Poland
necklace, oxidized silver
Jarosław Westermark – Poland
STICK pendant, silver, 2011
Tove Knuts – Sweden
Box II brooch, folded silver, 2015
Box IV brooch, silver oxidized, 2015
Heike Walk – Germany
Spoony, ring-collection, 6 rings + 1 spoon, silver 925, traditional technique, 2011
Paweł Kaczyński – Poland
Silver pillow bracelet, silver, goose feathers, welded, 250 g, 2019